Observer: Transfer of Coal Corruption Case Prevents Institutional Clash

Political and legal observer Boni Hargens has assessed that the transfer of the alleged coal corruption case from the Indonesian National Police (Polri) to the Attorney General’s Office is a tactical step to prevent clashes between law enforcement institutions. Boni stated in Jakarta on Friday that the move is a rational mechanism to avoid inter-agency conflict that could disrupt the law enforcement process. “In this context, the interest in maintaining institutional harmony between Polri and the Attorney General’s Office is more urgent than rigid procedural compliance,” he said. According to Boni, the difference between file transfer and the handover of investigation continuation files is not merely a matter of terminology, but concerns jurisdiction, legal responsibility, and the validity of the prosecution process. He said the differing perspectives reflect the tension between formal legality and practical effectiveness in Indonesia’s legal system. Firstly, Article 14 of Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the Indonesian National Police grants discretionary authority to the police in determining investigation priorities and strategies, including cross-agency coordination for effective case handling. Secondly, Articles 38 to 40 of Law Number 16 of 2004 concerning the Attorney General’s Office regulate the prosecutorial coordination authority in the investigation and inquiry of certain criminal offences. “Therefore, the file handover can be constructed as coordination between law enforcers within a legally valid criminal justice system,” he stated. He noted that in the Indonesian criminal justice system, prosecutors act as ‘dominus litis’ or the controller of the case, so handing over files to the Attorney General’s Office can be interpreted as involving prosecutors in the investigation process to strengthen the legality of the prosecution. Thus, Polri’s action can be viewed as a form of coordination within the integrated criminal justice system. According to Boni, the strongest argument for Polri is to position the handover as institutional coordination between law enforcement agencies, not as a technical transfer as regulated in the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP). With this construction, the administrative handover of the investigation does not have to follow the P-21 mechanism in the KUHAP. Previously, a joint investigation team from the Police Corruption Eradication Corps (Kortastipidkor) and Polda Metro Jaya visited the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) building at the Attorney General’s Office in Jakarta to hand over the investigation administration for three cases of alleged corruption and money laundering. Based on ANTARA’s monitoring, the joint Polri team arrived at the Jampidsus building at around 1.00 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. On Saturday (11/7), Polri announced the handling of three cases, namely alleged corruption in coal governance, alleged corruption at PT Asabri and PT Jiwasraya for the 2020–2025 period, and alleged money laundering in the settlement of PT CBS’s debt to PT KNI, was transferred to the Attorney General’s Office based on an agreement between the two institutions as a form of law enforcement synergy. In the case, Polri has named former Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah and Don Ritto as suspects for alleged corruption and money laundering.